Editor’s Note: Bobby Corrigan is considered the industry’s foremost “rodentologist” but when it comes to understanding the biology and behavior of birds that honor may go to Dr. Rob Fergus, an ornithologist with Bird-B-Gone, Mission Viejo, Calif. PCT magazine recently interviewed Fergus, who has a Ph.D. in urban bird conservation from the University of Texas, about the challenges of managing bird populations in urban settings, as well as the science of ornithology.

In layman’s terms, how would you describe what an ornithologist does on a daily basis?

A.An ornithologist is anyone who is involved with the scientific study of birds, which can cover anything from their DNA, anatomy and behavior to their ecology and distribution. Some ornithologists study birds or their genes in a lab, while others study free-flying birds in the wild. Academic ornithologists also spend a lot of time teaching university courses on birds, biology or ecology. Most of us do a little of all of this, so on any given day I will be out in the field observing bird behavior, corresponding with other researchers, as well as preparing or teaching university courses. My work with Bird-B-Gone involves field work studying nuisance bird behavior, as well as researching potential bird control solutions, and consulting on commercial and residential bird nuisance problems across the United States and around the world. (more…)

Whether you have a problem with a bird, or just enjoy birds and want to know more about them, it can be useful and enlightening to explore the world form their point of view. The way different birds actually see the world makes a big difference in how they interact with people and our world. Knowing how birds see and interact with the world around them can help us avoid conflicts with birds and better direct our efforts to create a world that is acceptable and beneficial for both birds and people.

Bird Vision

First of all, when we’re talking about how birds see the world, we really are interested in how birds see. Birds are very visual creatures. What they see helps determine how they interact with the world around them—including us! In some ways, birds see the world very differently than humans do. It isn’t a stretch to say that they are living in a completely different world when it comes to how much of the world they see and how it looks to them.

“Ask the Bird Expert” will be a helpful new tool in the bird control industry. Having the insight of an ornithologist will close the gap between the science of nature, and the nature of bird control.

Dr. Rob Fergus is an ornithologist who specializes in urban ecology and human/wildlife interactions. Fergus received his Ph.D. in urban bird conservation from the University of Texas at Austin. After founding the Hornsby Bend Bird Observatory in Austin, Texas he created additional bird conservation programs in Austin as the first executive director of the 2,500 member Travis Audubon Society. In 2004 he moved to suburban Philadelphia where he was the Senior Scientist for Urban Bird Conservation at the National Audubon Society until 2009. In addition to researching and consulting on human/bird interactions in cities across the United States, Latin America, and Europe, Dr. Fergus currently teaches at Rowan University in Glassboro, N.J. and Rosemont College in Philadelphia, Pa.